Australian Academy of Science National Committee for the Mathematical Sciences

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Questacon Maths Centre: The Story so Far

In 1976 the A.C.T. Maths Centre opened at Campbell Primary School in Canberra. It was available to primary and secondary pupils, who came to the Centre in classes and worked in pairs to solve hands-on maths problems. More than 600 hands-on tasks were made and used between 1976 and 1991. Approximately 150,000 school children attended during that period. The Centre closed in 1991 but the tasks were saved and stored at the National Science and Technology Centre (NSTC). In 1992 NSTC began travelling to regional towns under a series of short-term grants, visiting every Australian state and even Christmas Island. This ceased in 2001, and since then the tasks are only available at Questacon (the new name for NSTC).

The Director of Questacon, Dr. Graham Durant, and Professor Neville de Mestre have been endeavouring to obtain funds from the Federal Government to allow the Maths Centre to travel to regional towns in Australia again. Professor de Mestre met with the Minister for Science, the Hon. Peter McGauran, in October and then sent letters to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, and the Chief Scientist in the hope that further funds would be made available through PMSEC which meets in November. We await the outcome.

Professor Neville de Mestre
School of Information Technology
Bond University
(Representing ANZIAM on NCMS)